10 CapitalPress.com
July 21, 2017
Idaho
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Judge to decide on vote to save farm ground
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
John O’Connell/Capital Press
The American Falls Reservoir in southeast Idaho remains full on
July 13 even though most farmers in the area have passed their
period of peak demand for water, thanks to abundant natural
Snake River flows.
Upper Snake irrigators pass
peak demand with full reservoirs
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho —
Most Upper Snake River irri-
gators are past their peak pe-
riod for water usage, but they
still have a full reservoir sys-
tem to work with, water man-
agers said on July 12.
Lyle Swank, watermaster
for the Upper Snake District,
explained the Bureau of Rec-
lamation stopped releasing
flood-control water below Mil-
ner Dam on July 6 to top off the
reservoirs, effectively ending a
prolonged spring aquifer re-
charge program following one
of the wettest Idaho winter’s in
recent memory.
Looking ahead to this fall
and winter, Swank said con-
ditions may again be well
suited for additional recharge
— which entails intentionally
injecting surface water into the
aquifer through unlined canals
and spill basins to address a
long trend of declining ground-
water levels.
Swank anticipates the sys-
tem’s reservoirs will finish the
year at half to 60 percent of
capacity.
He explained the reservoirs
recently reached “surcharge”
levels — meaning they tech-
nically peaked briefly at more
than 100 percent full, but were
still within a safety margin
requiring no “additional ac-
tion.” Jackson Lake Reservoir
reached 100.5 percent full,
Palisades Reservoir was 100.4
percent full and American Falls
Reservoir peaked at 100.3 per-
cent of capacity.
The day of allocation —
when snowpack runoff begins
to decline from its peak, flow
augmentation to benefit en-
dangered fish begins and the
system’s most junior natural
flow water rights holders start
drawing from storage — was
declared on July 10. The sys-
tem was down to 99.8 percent
full by July 12, with natural
flow rights with priority dates
beyond 1921 shut off.
Luke Hicks, director of the
Burgess Canal Co., said most
of his grain growers have al-
ready shut off irrigation, and
his company recently reduced
its deliveries from 1,100 cubic
feet per second to 1,000 cubic
feet per second, due to the drop
in demand.
“Our goal would be to carry
over about 50 percent (of stor-
age),” Hicks said. “If we carry
over more, then we’ll look to
recharge or some way to use
that.”
Aberdeen-Springfield Ca-
nal Co. has also started reduc-
ing its diversions due to grain
acres coming off the system.
General Manager Steve Hows-
er said his company’s deliver-
ies peaked at 1,250 cubic feet
per second — roughly 100
cubic feet per second below
the usual peak level due to the
combination of new liner in a
leaky reach of canal and heavy
silt from flood-control releases
helping to “seal the bottom.”
BOISE — The fate of a
proposed petition to ask vot-
ers to save 1,400 acres of
farmland from being devel-
oped could be decided during
an Aug. 8 court hearing.
Farmers and other resi-
dents of the Dry Creek Val-
ley five miles north of Boise
are attempting to use a little
known section of Idaho code
to stop the Dry Creek Valley
Ranch planned development
from moving forward.
The $100 million project
would build 1,800 homes and
85,000 square feet of com-
mercial space on the area.
Members of the Dry Creek
Valley Coalition last month
filed a petition with the Ada
County clerk’s office that
seeks to put to a public vote
an Ada County Commission
ordinance adopted earlier this
year that allows the project to
move forward.
Idaho Code 31-717 pro-
vides a mechanism by which
people can put a county com-
mission decision to a vote
during a special election.
Ada County Clerk Chris-
topher Rich sent a letter to
petition supporters saying his
office could not accept the
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
The Dry Creek Valley north of Boise would be turned into homes
and businesses unless a petition that seeks to ask voters to over-
turn a county ordinance is successful. A district judge has ordered
the Ada County clerk to accept the initial petition for filing, but that
decision is being challenged.
petition for filing “because it
was not submitted within 30
days of final publication of the
ordinance.”
Petition supporters say
Idaho Code actually says the
petition can’t be submitted
until 30 days after the ordi-
nance is passed and they filed
a complaint against the clerk’s
decision in district court.
District Judge Jonathan
Medema issued a writ or-
dering Rich to accept the
petition for filing or appear
before him Aug. 8 “to show
cause why he has not accept-
ed that petition for filing.”
The judge’s order is en-
couraging, said Brian Ertz, an
attorney for the development
opponents.
“The fact that the judge
issued a writ is a good sign,”
he said.
However, the developer,
Boise Hunter Homes, has
filed a petition with a different
judge that asks the court to is-
sue a writ preventing the clerk
from filing the petition.
The clerk’s office has filed
a motion to consolidate the
two competing complaints.
Medema will also hear that
motion during the Aug. 8
hearing.
Phil McGrane, chief depu-
ty of the Ada County clerk’s
office, told Capital Press that
the clerk’s office is waiting for
the court to rule on the matter.
Given the competing com-
plaints, it would be premature
for the clerk to file the petition
before that happens, he said.
“We want the court to tell
us what the right course of
action is and we’re happy to
execute it,” he said. “We want
to do the right thing.”
Opponents of the planned
development will file a mo-
tion to intervene in the devel-
oper’s complaint “just in case
the consolidation doesn’t hap-
pen,” Ertz said.
If the court does agree with
development opponents and
the petition is filed, they will
have 180 days to collect the
estimated 40,000 signatures it
will take to prompt a special
election.
Although getting the ini-
tial petition filed is only the
beginning of the process,
“We’re hopeful and optimis-
tic we’ll be able to push (the
petition) through that pro-
cess,” said Stephanie Rael, a
farm hand who is leading the
effort.
Breeders tout new cereal lines in Aberdeen trials
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
ABERDEEN, Idaho —
Several new wheat and bar-
ley varieties that have been
outstanding performers in
University of Idaho field tri-
als should soon provide area
growers with improved yields
and disease resistance, as well
as specialized traits address-
ing several critical needs.
Public and private breed-
ing program representatives
highlighted their top new
cereal lines during a July 13
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field day at the University of
Idaho’s Aberdeen Research
and Extension Center.
Earlier this year, Gongshe
Hu, barley breeder at USDA’s
Aberdeen Agricultural Re-
search Service, released Kar-
dia, a two-row, hulled spring
barley for use in the burgeon-
ing human food barley mar-
ket. Kardia contains 13 per-
cent of a heart-healthy fiber
called beta glucan — a higher
amount than other available
food barley lines without sac-
rificing yields.
Hu said several groups in
Washington and Oregon are
interested in Kardia. Hu ex-
plained his program should
also soon release the first of
its winter food barley lines.
A spring malt barley line
from Hu’s program, ARS 10-
65, should be ideal for craft
brewing, and its low protein
level may enable southeast
Idaho dryland farmers to start
raising malt barley. Protein
levels in most barley lines
generally rise above malting
specifications under water
stress.
“We hope we can find
some varieties for dryland
growers so they may be able
to grow some malting barley,”
said Hu, who believes ARS
10-65 could fill the niche, if
the industry accepts it.
Hu explained he presented
some of his elite lines with
desirable craft brewing char-
acteristics for evaluation by
the American Malting Barley
Association, and ARS 10-65
has emerged as the top option.
Frank Curtis, of Limagrain
Cereal Seeds, believes a Eu-
ropean two-row spring barley
he’s introduced in the U.S.,
called LCS Odyssey, will
solve a challenge for south-
east Idaho barley growers,
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who struggle with cereal cyst
nematodes. Odyssey, a craft
variety that’s commonly used
in whiskey production abroad,
provides the only strong resis-
tance to the nematode, Curtis
said.
The Limagrain hard red
winter wheat, LCS Jet, was
the top yielding variety in its
class in the Aberdeen trials.
Curtis said the variety was
distributed in Washington and
Oregon in 2016, and its first
Idaho distribution will be this
fall.
“I think it’s got potential
to become a market leader,”
Curtis said.
Curtis believes UI Mag-
ic, a new Clearfield Plus soft
white wheat developed in a
partnership between UI and
Limagrain, is widely adapted
for the Northwest, has strong
disease resistance and good
yields. It was conventionally
bred to resist the active ingre-
dient in Beyond herbicide.
Trenton Stanger, of West-
Bred, said a new soft white
winter wheat, WB 1783, had
the top yield in its class in last
year’s Aberdeen trials, as well
as excellent stripe rust resis-
tance, and should be com-
mercially available to Idaho
growers in the fall of 2018.
UI wheat breeder Jianli
Chen said seed of her new soft
white winter wheat, UI Spar-
row, is now being expanded
and should be available com-
mercially in the fall of 2018.
It’s high yielding, ideal for
dryland, resists stripe rust and
is among the few soft white
winter wheats with dwarf
bunt resistance.
Chen plans to release two
soft white spring wheats in
2018 — IDO 1405, which
has head blight resistance,
and IDO 1403, which is less
susceptible to low falling
number, referring to a test
measuring increased activ-
ity of an enzyme that breaks
down starch and reduces grain
quality.
Teton County 4-H student efforts benefiting needy
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Tyler Fenn
College Place, WA
John O’Connell/Capital Press
University of Idaho wheat breeder Jianli Chen discusses her top
new varieties during a July 13 field day at UI’s Aberdeen Research
and Extension Center.
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DRIGGS, Idaho — Teton
County 4-H students are using
their agricultural projects to
help feed local people in need.
Jennifer Werlin, Univer-
sity of Idaho’s Teton County
Extension educator, said the
county’s 4-H program re-
ceived a $2,500 grant in the
spring from the Community
Foundation of Teton Valley to
start a gardening and beekeep-
ing club.
In mid-May, the program
built a pair of 8-by-4-foot
raised garden beds on the
grounds of the UI Teton Coun-
ty Extension office. The grant
also funded the purchase of
two beehives, housed at a lo-
cal organic produce farm, and
beekeeping equipment.
A local nonprofit that
works with other county ser-
vice organizations, called the
Community Resource Center
of Teton County, will identify
recipients of honey and pro-
duce raised by the 11 students
participating in the club.
“Hunger and food security
is a big issue in our commu-
nity,” said Werlin, who’s posi-
tion has a focus on community
food systems. “While we have
a lot of wealthy people, there’s
a huge disparity between the
haves and the have-nots, and
I think healthy, locally grown
food should be accessible to
all.”
Werlin said vegetable starts
planted in the garden were
raised under a grow-light in
the extension office.
4-H students involved in
animal projects will also sup-
port locals in need this sum-
mer. Werlin said 4-H received
a $550 grant through the Com-
munity Foundation of Teton
Valley Youth Philanthropy
Grant program to buy one stu-
dent’s pig project to donate to
the local senior citizens’ center.
Students enrolled in a Teton
High School government class
selected the grant recipient.
Winning bidders of 4-H an-
imal projects usually pay well
above market value to support
the youths who raise the live-
stock. Tammy Sachse, office
manager of the Teton County
Extension office, said the grant
will cover the market value of
the chosen pig, and the pro-
gram will seek a buyer willing
to pay a premium above the
market rate and return the pig.
The grant will also cover
costs of slaughtering and pro-
cessing the pig, which should
yield about 280 pounds of
pork.
Sachse’s eighth-grade son,
Tyler, is raising three 4-H pigs,
as well as sheep, and devotes
about seven hours per week to
his 4-H projects.
“Some of the (seniors) prob-
ably don’t get very much mon-
ey, and some of them might
need a little help,” Tyler said.